Thank You
by SilverPedals1402
Summary: February 14th, the most romantic date in the year. Also one of the more stressful holidays of them all. At least when you have a girlfriend and really don't know what to do... Especially for a certain blue-eyed genius. VALENTINE'S CONTEST.


**You know what guys, MOVING SUCKS! And what sucks even more, is finding out that moving day is moved a week later AFTER almost ALL of my clothes were packed away...and almost having to cancel a speech meet, that turns out wasn't this weekend, but NEXT weekend. DURING moving day! Now I'm for sure missing it...Luckily, I don't have a speech set up any more because my partner bailed...**

**Anyways, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! This is for that Valentine's Contest _3mee_ is holding. :D**

**Disclaimer: IMAA is NOT mine! **

Words could not express how lost he had been at that moment. No matter how much he thought on it, the only thing he accomplished was getting himself more and more lost. The calendar in front of him was full of dates. Dates such as: Birthday's, homework due dates, the occasional doctor's appointment, and most importantly, Valentine's Day.

No one, not even he, could fail to notice that the day was coming up. Not at all taking its time to arrive. A giant red heart overlapped the square that marked the date, February 14th. He wasn't one for doodling on calendars but that didn't mean his girlfriend wasn't.

He sat down on his bed, only to both hear and feel the crinkling of paper. Standing up once more, he pulled the covers down just enough to find a large piece of white paper.

"February 14th, Valentine's Day." He read aloud.

Running a hand through his ebony hair, he started to wonder how she got in his room in the first place. It was no doubt that the handwriting was not to be mistaken for anybody's but, his girlfriend's. After all, who else would think to fill his walls with post-it notes and his notebook with plenty of reminders?

There was three days until said holiday would start, and he was still clueless on what he was going to do for their first Valentine's Day as a couple. He just hoped that she didn't realize just how lost he was.

xXx

Nervously, he smiled at his girlfriend. "Don't worry, I have it all planned out. All you have to do is sit back and relax."

He tried to make himself sound reassuring and positive, but he wasn't entirely sure just how convincing he sounded.

There was still two days left until Valentine's Day, and Pepper was absolutely beside herself. She never was much of the fan of Valentine's Days. She'd even told him a few times that she didn't see the point in Valentine's Day. Her excuse was that it was an unfair holiday and not everybody was able to spend said holiday the way it was meant to be. It was a romantic holiday, typically meant for couples. Up until now, she had no true reason to celebrate Valentine's Day other than to accept the candy and gifts she received from friends.

Now that she was Dating Tony, she was determined to change her own mind about the holiday and make it her favorite one of them all.

"You better," She said, hugging his arm. "There's only two days left."

"If you're so worried about it, then you plan it." Tony offered. He wasn't against that since he didn't have any plans yet. "You'll do great."

"No, that'll only ruin what you've already planned." Pepper said sounding a bit upset that she hadn't planned it, even though she demanded that he was the one to do it. "Plus, what kind of Valentine's Day is it if the girl has to do everything?"

"A perfect one, who says girls aren't good at being romantic?" Tony commented, suddenly hoping that she'll change her mind and take it over. "Plus, I always thought that you were the one to defend the strength and independence of women."

"Yeah, but this is my _first_ real Valentine's Day!" Pepper whined. "I want it to be traditional!"

Tony sighed. Of course she wasn't going to go easy on him. "Alright, calm down. I'll just have to make sure it's the best Valentine's Day of your life."

That time, he wasn't lying. He was going to make it her best Valentine's Day ever. He was _not_ going to let her down.

Only one problem. He still didn't know what to do.

xXx

One day left and the only progress he made was ideas. He laid with his back on his bad, chewing on the end of a pen as he thought. Light poured through his window, splaying across his room. It was too bright to be thinking with so he stood up. Walking across the floor, he closed the curtains with one quick swipe.

As he did that, he noticed a pair of birds just outside his window. They weren't doing anything special at all, in fact they weren't even doing a thing. But what caught his attention was just that. Their wings brushed up against each other as if they were warming each other up, but not minding the other bird's actions.

He smiled softly as he added a new idea to his currently list of ideas he was juggling around in his mind. He laid back down, the pen returned to his mouth where he thoughtful bit down on the end of it.

He no longer felt lost. Though he hadn't quite found his way, he was at least halfway there and that was better than where he was only minutes ago. Now he at least had vague ideas of what he could do and of what his girlfriend might enjoy. Now he just needed to put the ideas together so that Pepper was sure to enjoy what he has planned for her.

His phones suddenly rang, breaking through the silence like a knife. He wrapped his fingers around the ringing object in his pocket and after pressing 'talk' he brought it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Tony!" His girlfriend sang. "I hope you're ready!"

He rolled his eyes, but smiled anyways. "I already told you, I have everything set. You're going to love it."

He heard her doubtful response. "You sure?"

"Pep, you're going to love it. I would never let you down." He promised.

"If you say so," She responded. "Then I guess I should go."

"Already?"

"Yeah, I have homework to do." Pepper said. "See ya tomorrow, Tony."

He finished his goodbyes as he set his phone back in his pocket. Sighing, he sat up and walked out of the room looking for something to eat. He figured it would clear his mind and hopefully maybe open some possibilities—even if he doubted that eating could actually help him with the matter.

It was still early in the day. School had only ended about an hour ago, and he had plenty of homework to do that wasn't anything for Valentine's Day for Pepper. He felt it was unfair of teachers to give everyone homework before a holiday. Didn't they know that he struggled enough to know what to do with his girlfriend on Valentine's Day?

He sighed as he bit down in the sandwich he'd just finished making.

"It actually tastes…good." Tony said, somewhat surprised. He never did try cooking before, but it didn't take much to know that if he truly tried to cook something, he was setting himself up for a fire. So when he made something he stuck to leftovers or cold items like sandwiches and cereal. It had taken him some time, but he finally managed to master his sandwich technique, which barely passed for a passable snack for one of Roberta's sandwiches.

His success didn't last long.

Finishing his afternoon snack, he cleaned up and brought himself to the living room where his dad was watching the news while reading the newspaper. The man seriously was more addicted to the news than he himself was. And that was saying something.

"Hey dad." He said calmly as he threw himself on the open sofa.

"How was your afternoon, Tony?" Howard said barely looking up from his read.

"Frustrating."

His dad didn't question his son's reply, but only gave the blue-eyed genius an encouraging smile. Hoping that it would be at least helpful to his son.

It was peaceful, he thought. Comfy and cozy as well. He could smell his father's coffee from where he lay and for some reason, he could honestly say that the smell was one of his favorites. Maybe that was because there hardly ever passes the day where he doesn't smell that every morning, afternoon, and night. His dad was addicted to both coffee and the news, luckily he wasn't as addicted the energized drink called coffee as his former foster-mother Roberta was.

Though, to think about it, the woman was still the closest he's got to a mother as far as he was concerned.

"What's you all happy?" His dad questioned from his seat.

Tony glanced over and shrugged. "Nothing, it's just surprisingly relaxing today."

Too bad he missed the look his dad gave him. After all, his dad was fully aware of the date that was tomorrow and who his son would be spending the holiday with.

That's when it came to him. All the idea's he'd been juggling in his head, were now one jumbled up idea and cleaned and edited and cut to make one official plan. Luckily for him, he knew just what to do with his final hours before the night before the anticipated date arrived.

He got up in a mad dash for his room, leaving behind a now stunned Howard.

The blue-eyed genius didn't wait before he pulled out his phone and dialed up his girlfriend.

"Hey, Tony! You get lonely already?"

He rolled his eyes, but gave a light laugh. "Of course, I'd never make it without you, Pep."

"Luckily for you, I'm not going anywhere." Pepper said her smile evident in her tone.

"Alright Pepper, I have a question for you."

When she responded, curiosity practically dripped from the redhead's voice. "And what would that be?"

"You don't mind skipping school do you?"

xXx

"You're not planning on flying off to some foreign country are you?"

Shaking his head with a light chuckle, he smiled at her. "Not quite, Pep."

"What are you planning, Tony?"

"Nothing!" Tony defended, but quickly hugged her close to him with one arm. "Don't you trust me?"

"Not if you plan on flying out to a foreign country with me!" Pepper responded.

"I never said we were going to a foreign country." Tony said.

"Canada and Mexico don't count."

Tony laughed. "Who said anything about leaving the country?"

"Leaving the state doesn't count either."

"Pepper! We're not even leaving the city!" Tony countered.

Pepper blinked. "Oh…but then why did we need to skip school?"

Tony shrugged. "More time I guess. Wouldn't you rather spend the whole day together and not just the evening? Already exhausted by school work?"

When Pepper opened her mouth to reply, Tony pressed his index finger on her lips, shushing her. "Just trust me."

"Alright Tony, I will."

xXx

At some point during their journey from Pepper's house where he picked her up and to the destination Tony had planned, Pepper had been blinded by Tony's hands. He led her down streets and across them. Soon enough, they had arrived at their destination and Tony smiled as he led her up the stairs carefully and to the front door.

"We there yet?" Pepper asked, pressing her cold self into Tony's side.

He smiled. "Just a few seconds, Pep."

Pepper for those few seconds tried to guess where it was that her boyfriend has brought her too. Was it a romantic restaurant? A movie theater? An indoor park? A pool? Though when she breathed in, she smelt something oddly familiar. For a split second she was afraid that he'd brought her to the armory. She instantly worried that in last moment with nothing else planned, he brought her to the first place he thought of.

But that wasn't the case. When she focused it didn't smell of machinery, it didn't smell of days old dirty clothes that often laid throughout the armory floor. It was a more pleasant, yet less recognizable scent.

"Don't be disappointed, alright?" Tony told her when he removed his hands.

Pepper blinked as light filled her eyes. It wasn't even a lot of light, but compared to no light, it was enough. Then she noticed why it was so familiar smelling. The small table with the vase of flowers she always saw when she came here, the painting on the wall she always stared at before leaving, the soft carpet up ahead.

"Your house?" She asked. Maybe it was just a pit stop. Maybe he needed to grab something before they went to the true place.

Her boyfriend nodded though. He grabbed her hand after letting her take off her shoes and coat. Then he led her to the living room and asked her to take a seat. "Sorry if it's not as extravagant as you hoped."

He was sitting with her, her hands in his.

She found herself shaking her head, even if she was a little disappointed "No, its fine."

Suddenly, Tony's mood seemed to deflate like a balloon. "No, you don't like it do you? We've hardly even done anything and you already hate it. I can see it in your eyes. I should've thought harder on what you would like more."

His excited grip that he had on her loosened. She quickly shook her head. "I'm sorry! I really do like it, I guess…I just wasn't expecting to be at your house. I was thinking we'd go to a restaurant or a movie, or even shopping."

He straightened his back. "I thought about those, but I though you wouldn't want to do what everyone does. Aren't those what everyone does on Valentine's Day? But, if you want to do something like that, there's definitely time. I'll just make a phone call…"

"Tony," Pepper interrupted him. "This is fine. Just show me what else you have planned. I'm sure there's more to it than sitting on your couch."

Still not as excited as he was moments ago, he smiled. "Alright then. I'll be right back."

He rushed off, his feet padding against the floor as he disappeared. He returned with a large, red cloth bag full of items. He set them down one the coffee table beside them as he left one more time this time coming back with nothing.

He sat down again, this time taking the time to tangle their legs together and to hold her hands more closely. Lightly, he kissed her knuckles before he laid her hands down in their laps as he pulled the bag to the ground next to them.

At least now she looked a little fascinated, so it encouraged him to feel more excited again.

"What are you up to now?" Pepper asked, watching.

"You'll see."

He pulled a medium sized plastic-wrapped bag. He tossed it to her before she noticed that it was a bag of assorted candies, her favorite candies to be exact.

"Also," He said as he pulled out more small bags, the kind you got at the grocery story to put unwrapped fruits, vegetables, and occasional nuts and candies. "I remembered that store you always wanted to go to."

She noticed that in each of the eight bags were different kinds of candies. In some there was chocolate, in others there was gummies and hard candies. A majority being chocolate. She smiled as she realized just where they came from.

"Don't they have just the best candies ever?" Pepper asked, already beginning to dig into one of the chocolate filled bags.

Tony nodded, but then he took the rest of the bags of candy and leaned over to place them to the side. She watched him curiously with her brown eyes. He gave her the 'one second' signal and dug around in the bag once more.

"Here you go." He said as he handed her all sorts of things.

Her favorite brands of chips, soda, and juices were handed her way. All her favorite junk food that she hardly let herself splurge on. He had his own pile going on as well. Soon enough, the pair was buried in junk food.

Pepper couldn't help but laugh. "This is _so_ unhealthy!"

Tony shrugged. "I don't see the harm in it, after all it's a special holiday."

Once again he ploughed through the bag once again and pulled out three movies. "I didn't know what you'd want, but I got a few choices."

He then dug into the bag again before Pepper could even give her response. She laughed. "What on earth did you put in there?"

"Everything needed to have a comfy, yummy, fun day."

He brought out what he said was the last item in the bag and it was a fuzzy red blanket. He smiled at her as they pushed off the mountain of junk food so they could cover themselves in the warm blanket.

"There, now we can watch in comfort and peace." Tony said smiling.

Pepper couldn't help but notice how he was smiling. He wasn't smiling like he normally did. The way he was smiling was more emotional than usual. It was sort of a child-like way of smiling and he looked so happy just sitting there with her.

"You're really enjoying this aren't you?" She asked genuinely honest.

His smile disappeared for a moment. "Is that wrong?"

"No, it's just that I didn't think just sitting around would be so fun…"

"Well, it is! It's simple, it isn't overly exhausting, we're alone, and there isn't any noise. Why wouldn't it be fun?" His smile returned as he leaned towards the redhead.

Her hands were in his now as she spoke. "It is fun actually, you've proven me wrong."

He sat up as if he remembered something he forgot. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot!"

He jabbed his now free hands into his pockets in search for the object he must have forgotten about. It didn't take the blue-eyed genius long before he must have found it and was sitting normal again, his hands closed around whatever it was that was in his pocket.

"C'mere." He said really quickly as if he was nervous. She did as he said and leaned forward, almost expecting him to kiss her. Instead, he just laid his forehead against hers and placed his closed hands in her open ones.

She felt his semi-soft hands in her own soft hands. His hands were warm and comforting. Holding hands was always something she loved doing with him. It made her feel strangely safe, as if his hands around hers, or her hands around his were the key factor in keeping themselves and each other alive.

She both felt and heard something land in her hand as he opened his own. "Happy Valentine's Day, Pepper."

She looked to see a pretty necklace lying in the center of her palm. It was a vibrant golden color and was shaped like a heart, but it didn't look new at all. It had a single gem she assumed was a ruby in the center of the heart forming a ruby-heart in the hollow center.

"I know it's a bit soon, and maybe a little cheesy, but I'd like for you to have that." Tony said when she didn't say anything due to her being left speechless.

"It's…beautiful." She finally said. "Where'd you get it?"

Tony closed his hands around her hands this time as he smiled at her, their foreheads still touching. "It was my mothers. A gift from my dad to her when they first started dating."

"I can't possibly…" Pepper started. "Maybe your dad should have it back."

Tony shook his head, pulling Pepper in for a tight hug. "No, you don't get it. My dad gave that to me last night and told me he wanted you to have it."

Pepper's eyes welled up as she buried her head in his neck. "Oh Tony, thank you so much!"

Tony shook his head, leaning back to look her in the eyes. "No, thank _you_ Pepper."

Pepper stared at him curiously, and closely.

"Thank you so much, Pepper, for being my everything."

**First things first, sorry if it was really long, it sort of dragged on...but I just loved writing it so much, I didn't want to finish...But I know it'd be best to finish at least ON Valentine's Day...so...**

**As you know, I'm moving so I'm not sure how much you'll see out of my these next two weeks. Spent two weeks packing for nothing... -_- I'm going to _try_ to update a couple/few things this weekened, but no promises. Family friend gave a visit.**

**Fun Fact: _My skin is VERY sensitive to lotion and burns when I put most lotions on..._**

**Some of you know from a Fun Fact a while back, that my friends always said I walk like a duck, but I guess they forgot, because both today and Monday they all commented on how weird I walk. Seriously, I _waddle_! It's weird. :P**

**Anyways, I love you all my faithful readers! :D Happy Valentine's Day!**

**Hugs and KISSES, SilverPedals!**


End file.
